Which well-known crypto companies are based in Japan, and what is their scale?

Large Teams of Hundreds

· Binance acquired the compliant Japanese exchange SEBC in 2022 and renamed it Binance Japan in late 2023, officially launching its compliant operations in Japan. In the same year, it established a partnership with Japan's leading bank - Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, planning to issue a yen stablecoin. Affected by the tightening of work visas in Singapore and regulatory policies in the U.S. in 2023, some employees who did not obtain overseas work visas were transferred to Binance Japan, marking the beginning of a large-scale expansion for Binance's Tokyo office.

· BitFlyer is a leading compliant exchange in Japan. In its early days, its shareholders were primarily financial conglomerates like Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Hokuhoku Financial Group, and Mitsubishi UFJ. This year, the company acquired the bankrupt FTX Japan subsidiary, further solidifying its position as a top compliant exchange in Japan. Although BitFlyer started locally, it has been seeking international expansion.

· Coincheck is a top-tier exchange in Japan, with a higher frequency of listing new coins compared to its local peers. It has publicly collaborated with Animoca Brands and Circle. In May of this year, the company planned to seek a listing on the NASDAQ in the U.S. through a SPAC.

· Bitbank is one of the few exchanges in Japan that supports overseas companies in registering accounts and provides customer service in Chinese and English. In 2022, the company invested in the Japanese gaming public chain Oasys and established a partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

· SBI Crypto is a subsidiary of Japan's leading brokerage SBI. Over the past few years, the company has acquired and merged with several Crypto enterprises and operates Bitcoin and Litecoin mining pools. The team is quite diverse, with employees from China, the U.S., and Australia.

Medium-Sized Teams of Dozens

· Cardano is the highest market cap project in Japan according to CMC, with two co-founders who have long worked and lived in Japan. This team was one of the early beneficiaries of Japan's ICO boom, and its issued ADA was once considered Japan's version of Ethereum by the local community. The Japanese team continues to operate and regularly holds offline activities.

· Backpack is an exchange and multi-chain wallet supported by Multicoin and the Solana Foundation. One co-founder leads the product and technology department, conducting Backpack's research and operations in their office in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The team is still hiring and expanding.

· B2 C2 is an international liquidity market maker with hundreds of employees globally, including dozens in its Tokyo office. The company was the largest liquidity provider for XRP and has provided liquidity market-making services for well-known projects like Blockdaemon and Stakewise.

· Cointelegraph Japan is a well-known international Crypto media outlet with an independent team in Tokyo. This Japanese team also manages Cointelegraph's Chinese, Indonesian, and Korean sites.

· MEXC is a well-known exchange in the industry, with an office in Japan primarily to meet operational service needs in the Asian time zone. It is the second offshore office after Malaysia.

· Amber Japan is the Japanese subsidiary of the market maker Amber, with a registered capital of 800 million yen. The company once acquired the Financial Services Agency-registered DeCurret at its peak, completing local compliance work. It is rumored to have been sold to a Japanese consortium amid debt rumors surrounding its parent company.

· Oasys is a Layer 1 public chain supported by investments from NGC, Kucoin, and Jump. It has established partnerships with several well-known Japanese gaming companies to help them issue NFTs and in-game items on the blockchain.

· AStar is a well-established public chain project in Japan that has received investments from Polychain, Coinbase, and Binance. This year, it partnered with Sony to establish a Crypto accelerator and has shifted its focus to the zkEVM track.

· Jasmy is one of the earlier Crypto + IoT projects in Japan and is one of the few Japanese projects listed on Binance and Coinbase. It currently ranks 56th in global market cap and has attracted attention from many Chinese-speaking investors. It has now shifted to the DePIN track.

· CoinPost is a leading local Crypto media outlet in Japan, known for its influential annual webX summit.

· Double jump is the parent company of Oasys, which has incubated well-known IP NFT projects like "Captain Tsubasa" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Small Teams of a Few to Dozens

· Hashed is the largest Crypto fund in South Korea but also has a research group in Japan. Each year, it co-hosts the Tokyo Blockchain Leaders Summit, inviting many founders who have been invested in by Hashed to participate.

· Skyland is the largest Crypto fund registered in Japan's Financial Services Agency and is one of the few Japanese institutions actively investing in Chinese projects, having invested in well-known projects like Taiko, Merlin, Bitlayer, Unisat, and BitSmiley.

· IVC is a global seed fund based in Japan, officially known as Infinity Ventures Crypto, and is operated by the same team behind the Kyoto IVS summit. It has invested in well-known projects like YGG, Mirror, and Scroll.

· Azuki is an internationally recognized NFT project with a dedicated artist studio in Japan that provides design and local operations for Azuki. It is also a well-known blue-chip NFT project among many Japanese investors.

· Mask Network is one of the earlier Crypto projects to enter Japan from the Chinese-speaking world, enjoying high recognition among its peers in Japan. The well-known Japanese community KOL 0xCryptoBaby is also a member of Mask. Mask is a major sponsor of international conferences related to Japan each year.

· OneKey is an open-source wallet service provider that has received investments from Dragonfly, Coinbase, and Framework. Its founder moved to Japan early on, and there are members responsible for business expansion in Japan.

· Intmax is a Layer 2 public chain that has received investments from SNZ, Hashkey, and Mask. Its founder, Mai Fujimoto, is a well-known figure in Japan's Crypto circle, often referred to as "Bitcoin Miss" by the media for her early promotion of Bitcoin technology and value in Japan.

· Myshell is an AI consumer layer project that has received investments from Dragonfly, OKX, and Folius. Currently, core members have established a company and office in Japan.

· KEKKAI is an on-chain security testing company that has received investments from Bixin, Skyland, and Mask. Its founder is a core member of Waseda University's Blockchain Association and has helped several internationally recognized projects host hackathons in Japan.

· TON is a public chain developed by Telegram, with a dedicated ambassador and ecological offline office in Tokyo. During a previous roadshow in Tokyo, five Japanese project teams based on TON showcased and shared their work.

· Ripple is a leading Crypto project that developed the Japanese market early on and has a joint venture with SBI. It operates in Japan, and the main liquidity provision for its early coins was handled by a market-making team from Japan.

· Animoca Japan is the Japanese subsidiary of Animoca, which has received investments from West Japan Railway and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. They are shareholders of the Japanese gaming union Apricot Planet and have established partnerships with Mitsui & Co. and KDDI.

· YGG Japan is the independent Japanese company of YGG, which has received investments from Animoca, Gate, and IVC. It has organized several offline blockchain gaming events in Japan and has a certain level of influence.

· BYTOM is a well-known project in the Chinese-speaking world, officially landing in Tokyo this year and opening an office there. It is currently transitioning towards AI.

· Aki is a consumer task platform that has received investments from Oak, Mask, and CatcherVC. Before issuing its token, the team had already moved to Japan and established an office in Tokyo.

· MyToken is a very experienced soft wallet company in the industry. Its founder and core members have moved to Tokyo and are gradually establishing an office there.

· Gate is a very experienced Crypto exchange in the industry, with a global team focused on the Asia-Pacific time zone and an office in Tokyo.

· OKCoin is the compliant station of OKX in Japan, with a team supporting global listings and legal matters in the Asian time zone, and has established an office in Tokyo.

· Atomicals Market is the largest trading market for Bitcoin ARC20, with its founder residing in Tokyo for a long time and being a relatively experienced blockchain technology developer in the Chinese community in Tokyo.

In addition to the above, there are dozens of lesser-known global Crypto companies in Japan, primarily providing offshore operations, development outsourcing, and market connection services. We hope the above content helps you understand the latest situation of the Crypto market in Japan. Thank you for reading.

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